Connecticut Man Recounts Terrifying Ordeal Aboard Flight 1380

Imagine settling in for a 4-hour flight and leveling off at 30,000 feet and when you hear a loud explosion and you think, "This could be it?"

Jim Demetros from Stamford was on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 when all of a sudden there was a giant explosion, oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, and the aircraft dropped 10,000 feet in seconds. This is what Demetros told Hearst Media,

They were leveling off at 30,00 feet and they were getting ready to serve refreshments and all of a sudden there was a large explosion and everything changed in an instant.

The twin-engine Boeing 737 had blown an engine and in the blink of an eye, chaos took over the cabin, as a piece of shrapnel from the explosion broke one of the plane's windows three seats behind where Demetros was sitting. The woman assigned to that seat, Jennifer Riordan was practically sucked out of the smashed window, but was pulled back into the aircraft by a firefighter from Texas.

Riordan was given first aid and CPR while the damaged aircraft landed at Philadelphia International Airport but sadly died from her injuries.

Demetros told reporters that within 10 minutes after the engine blew up the plane touched down in Philadelphia. All he could think about was hugging his wife, Cynthia and his two adult children because he thought he would never see them again.